It’s been another busy year for a Hamilton-area volunteer organization that rescues stranded boaters and others from Lake Ontario.
South Shore Search and Rescue’s Doug Mepham says they responded to 43 rescue calls in 2022, from their base at Fifty Point, tying the record set in 2020.
Mepham adds that their rescues vary from the “mundane” to the “dramatic,” from mechanical failures to fires and capsized vessels.
“Some of it comes down to population growth,” says Mepham, “(while) some of it comes down to a whole new genre of self-propelled vessels.”
He says stand-up paddleboards, canoes and kayaks are all inexpensive ways to get on the water. “It’s made the lake all that much more accessible,” he notes, “but it’s also put a lot of people on the water who may not be trained for it.”
He says the biggest increases in calls for rescue involve paddle boarders, people in distress, and people adrift on inflatable pool toys.
South Shore Search and Rescue is a member of the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary and a registered charity.
The group’s largest fundraiser, an online charity auction, raises funds for fuel, maintenance, training and repairs. It will be held Nov. 23-26, and details are available at www.gamru.ca/auction.
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